


If I Die Young

by KyoXTohru1



Category: Glee
Genre: Death Fic, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-29 11:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1004971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyoXTohru1/pseuds/KyoXTohru1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kurt accepts Blaine's proposal, the first person he wants to tell is his brother, Finn.  However, when he discovers that Finn is dead, he, Rachel, and the rest of New Directions all need to slowly move on with their lives.  Warnings for intense swearing, possible sex scenes, possible trigger warnings, and controversial themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lean on Me

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really, really, really sorry for any OOC moments; I was trying to deal with the situation as in-character as possible and yet still have the events of the story make sense. This is, of course, the prolog, with the first chapter to follow once I've written it. Each chapter, including this one, will be named after a song, as will the story as a whole. Thank you for your feedback. Also, please note that this story is published on two sites, both and ArchiveOfOurOwn, possibly under different names, so please don't think that I am plagiarizing off myself.

Kurt could not believe what had just happened. Blaine. Blaine had proposed to him. After three years. Kurt was so happy, he just couldn't believe it. However, he thought back on the entire proposal number, and he realized that some people were missing. Now, Puck was almost understandable… But where had Finn been?

Biting his lip, Kurt pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and shot a quick text to Finn. Hey, where've you been? Blaine proposed to me. (smiley face) Then he slid the phone back into his pocket to head downstairs to the party that his parents were throwing him.

While it would be rude to check his phone during the party (especially since he was hanging off of Blaine's arm and smiling and laughing with all his friends, even Rachel and Santana), he couldn't help but feel worried. Finn sometimes forgot to check his phone, but surely Blaine would have wanted Kurt's stepbrother to come and help him with the proposal… And it wasn't like Finn to shirk a responsibility like that.

After the party had wrapped up, Kurt headed upstairs to his old bedroom, as the party had been thrown at his house, with Carole and Burt hosting. Lying down on the bed, he pulled his phone out again. Finn still hadn't read the text… Not entirely sure why his stomach seemed to be cramping with an uneasy feeling, he tried texting Puck. **Hi, Noah. Have you heard from Finn recently?**

Almost immediately, Puck responded. **No, dude. He said he was going back to Lima to help B with something. Any big news to tell me?**

Kurt smiled at the engagement ring safely nestled on his left ring finger before responding. **Yep. B proposed to me today. That's why I texted. Finn wasn't here; I was worried.**

After a moment, Puck responded. **That's weird. Finn told me he was going back home to help with the proposal. Wonder what happened?**

Kurt's stomach really, really hurt now. **What do you mean? What do you think happened?**

Puck responded quickly **. I'm sure it's nothing, Kurt. He's probably just playing a video game marathon and got too wrapped up in it to check a clock. Or he could have forgotten.**

Kurt responded angrily. **No. He wouldn't have forgotten something this important.**

Puck answered back almost immediately. **I'm sure you're right, but I'm just going to check on his dorm room just in case.**

Kurt breathed through the cramp as well as he could, his phone resting on his belly as he waited for Puck's response. Though not the praying type, he hoped beyond all reason that Puck would respond with a simple, "He's here; he was studying," or some inane reason like that. After about ten minutes, the phone started buzzing.

Kurt looked at the caller ID before answering the call; it was Puck. The second he put it up to his ear, Kurt could hear muffled sobbing on the other end. "Noah? Noah, what's going on? Tell me what's wrong." He felt almost physically sick.

"H-he's dead. I'm so sorry, Kurt!" Puck responded through the sobs.

Kurt rubbed his stomach gently. "Who's dead?" After a minute of sobs, Kurt was starting to get a little frustrated. "Noah. I need you to tell me who's dead."

The word that Puck said stopped Kurt's heart cold. "Finn. Finn is dead."

Kurt's phone crashed onto the floor, but it didn't break (thank you, Autobox). He ran into the nearest bathroom and threw up, unable to take the pain anymore, before he started crying.

Blaine had been downstairs during this entire exchange; Kurt had said he needed to go lie down for a bit because he wasn't feeling well. However, when he heard the vomiting, he ran upstairs and into the bathroom where Kurt was throwing up and crying. He quickly put his arms around his fiancé and kissed his hair, trying to calm him down.

When Kurt seemed rational enough to function, Blaine stroked his hair and asked, "What's wrong, Kurt? Why are you crying?"

Kurt just shook his head, crying even harder, and wrapped his arms around Blaine. Blaine rubbed Kurt's back gently and kissed the top of his head, unwilling to put him through any more distress at that moment.

Finally, Kurt seemed to have calmed down enough to speak. With a few hiccups, Kurt explained the situation. "I-I was wondering why F-Finn hadn't come back to Lima for the p-proposal earlier today. I asked Puck where he was, thinking maybe they had finals or something this week. But when Puck answered his phone, he said … he said that he hadn't seen Finn in a few days, and that he thought Finn was at home with us. So he went to go check Finn's room. So … so he did, and … and…" And here Kurt again burst into hysterical tears.

Although Kurt was unable to continue the story, Blaine was smart enough to be able to figure out the most likely event that had occurred. He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, trying to stay calm. "I am so sorry, Kurt." He pressed another kiss to the top of Kurt's head.

Suddenly, Kurt felt very angry, and he pushed Blaine away. "Stop treating me like I'm a damn child, Blaine Devon Anderson! I'm not a little kid, or a fucking dog that can be soothed with silly caresses or kind but meaningless apologies! He is the second family member that I've lost! I almost lost my dad last year, I lost my mom when I was friggin' 8 years old, and now I've lost the only brother I've ever known!" Taking a deep breath, he continued slightly more calmly, though his voice was still wavering with unshed tears. "I think I'd like to be left alone for a bit, Blaine. I-I need to think of what to tell the others. Is everyone still downstairs?"

Blaine thought for a moment before standing up and stretching. "I think so. Your dad and Carole definitely are, and I think Rachel and – oh, God."

"What?" Kurt asked, still somewhat irritated.

"Someone has to tell Rachel, too. She and Carole should probably be the first to know…"

Kurt stood up as well, going over to the sink to wash the taste of vomit from his mouth. "Fine. Bring them and my dad up here, and we can tell them privately. Then, could you please tell the others later? I … I don't know how many times I can break the news to people without crying and completely ruining this outfit." He smiled slightly, though he was a bit ashamed to be smiling so soon after finding out about his stepbrother's death.

Blaine rubbed Kurt's shoulder lightly. "Of course. I'll tell them once we're done up here, okay?" He pressed a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek, then ran downstairs to get Carole, Rachel, and Burt. While he was, of course, happy to have proposed to Kurt and that Kurt had accepted said proposal, he couldn't help but feel really upset at having lost the chance to have a brother-in-law. And, of course, he never would have expected to be the one to have to break the news to said brother-in-law's family and girlfriend. Just outside the kitchen where everyone was gathered, he took a deep breath and walked in, saying, "Carole, Burt, and Rachel, could you please come upstairs for a minute? Kurt has something … something he needs to tell you."


	2. I Should Tell You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt's sick, Blaine's emotionally drained, and everyone's emotions are running high. Also, Burt and Carole find out about Finn's death. 
> 
> Warning: emotionally charged chapter, some swearing, and some OOC-ness
> 
> Some people's reactions are based off of my own feelings, both when Cory Monteith died and when my beloved cat Princess died about two weeks later.

Once Blaine was gone, Kurt took a shaky breath and dried his face with a facecloth by the sink, then went back to his room and sat down on the bed. After a few minutes, he heard four pairs of feet coming up the stairs – Blaine must have decided to show them where he was. He heard the door down the hall, to the bathroom, creak open, which of course made everyone fairly nervous, especially since he wasn't there anymore.

Finally, the four pairs of feet came to outside his room, and there was a soft knock on the door. "Kurt, are you in here?" Blaine asked quietly before poking his head in. Then he turned back and said something to the others, and they all filed in.

Kurt took another breath, and Carole and Rachel sat on either side of him. Carole took one hand in his. "What is it, sweetie?" She rested one hand on his forehead. "You don't look well, and I think you have a fever…"

Blaine took the opportunity to say, "I found him throwing up, but I thought it was just from what he had heard over the phone."  
Carole looked even more concerned. "Kurt, honey, what happened? Is something wrong?"

Kurt suddenly couldn't breathe. He thought he might be sick again; he vaguely heard someone calling his name over the rush of blood in his ears. He couldn't help it; he started crying. He felt someone wrapping him up in a hug; he thought it was Blaine, but it could have been Carole or Rachel.

After a few minutes, Kurt relaxed, asleep but still feverish in Carole's arms. Rachel was the first to find her voice. "W-what happened? Kurt was shaking so hard; was it a seizure? I've-I've never seen something like that b-before."

Carole looked at the girl that his son was so enamored with and said, "Kurt will be fine; he was just having a panic attack." She turned to Blaine. "Do you know why he was so upset? Kurt's so strong, it must have taken something really, really bad to upset him so much."

Blaine gulped nervously. "I do know. When … when Finn never showed up for my big proposal today, I knew something was wrong. Kurt didn't really notice at first, but during the party he texted Finn, asked him where he was. Finn … never responded." Another lump was starting to close his throat, but he kept speaking anyway. "After the party was over, Kurt didn't feel that well, so he came up here to lie down for a bit. He texted Puck and asked him if he knew where Finn was. Puck said that he thought Finn had come home, and then left to go check on him. Puck … Puck called about ten minutes ago. That's all I really know for sure, but soon after is when I heard Kurt being sick, so I came up to check on him. When he got to this part of the story, he started crying, so … I have a pretty good idea what happened. At first, all he could say was, 'He's dead.'"

Rachel stiffened. "What? No, no, that can't be right." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed speed-dial 2. After a minute or so of holding it up to her ear, she pulled it away. "He's – he's not answering. I'm … I'm going to call Puck. I'm sure he's just … just studying or something." Although her hands were shaking, she eventually found Puck's number saved in her phone and called it.

The longer the two were talking, the more hysterical Rachel grew. Eventually she ended the call and threw herself sobbing into Blaine's arms. After a minute, she grew coherent enough to tell Burt and Carole, "K-Kurt was right. He's … he's gone!" She pulled herself roughly from Blaine's arms and ran downstairs. A few moments later, there was the slam of the front door, followed by a car revving in the driveway.

Blaine looked from Burt to Carole to Kurt. Carole still seemed to have not fully realized what was going on; she was staring off into the distance, in the general direction of Kurt's dresser, but tears were starting to gather in her eyes. Burt was standing in a corner, clenching his fists and relaxing as if not entirely sure what to do. Kurt had somehow fallen asleep, though he was still sniffling. Blaine cleared his throat; Carole looked up at him, blinking slowly as if coming out of a dream. "I'm … um, I'm just going to go down and explain to the others what's going on, and I'll help clean up. Should I … should I stay here until Kurt wakes up?" Carole nodded slightly before going back to staring into the distance and lightly stroking her stepson's hair.

Blaine took a deep breath to steady himself before heading out of the room and closing the door quietly behind him, to give the family some private time. Then he headed downstairs into the kitchen, where almost everyone was looking to him for information. Mercedes was the first to step forward. "Alright, Blaine, what's going on? Rachel just tore through here, not a word to anyone, but she looked like someone had just told her Barbra Streisand was a figment of her imagination."

Blaine looked from one glee club member to another; the only two (besides Finn and Puck) who hadn't come back for this were Quinn and Brittany, who couldn't afford to take time off from school because of exams. When he finally spoke, he kept his voice as steady as he could. "We have just found out that one of the first members of Glee has died. We don't know all the details yet, but it's happened quite recently. Rachel, Kurt, Burt, and Carole just found out, which is why Rachel is so upset. Kurt, Burt, and Carole are upstairs." He kept his mouth in a tight line, trying to keep himself from breaking down, while all the others did just that, even the new freshman/sophomore members who barely knew Finn.

After a few minutes of hugging and sobbing, Jake looked at Blaine over the top of Marley's head; Marley had been hugging him for the past several minutes and had refused to let go, instead opting to sob into his muscular chest while he hugged her close. "What … what can we do to help?"

Blaine looked back at Jake. "I think … the best thing we can do is help plan the funeral. Somebody," here he looked at Tina, Artie, Mike, and the other older members, "needs to contact Quinn and Brittany; we all need to be together during this time. Today's Thursday, so we should have it on Sunday at the latest. This will give everyone enough time to get back to school before classes on Monday. Until then, we grieve the loss of one of our own. Tomorrow maybe we could all wear red T-shirts and blue jeans. While I wasn't here yet, I remember Kurt telling me that F – his first group number was 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey, and that they were wearing red T-shirts and blue jeans as costumes."

Kitty blinked back tears before disentangling herself from Unique and Ryder. "How the hell are you so calm about this? Didn't you care about him at all? I mean, I'm a stone-cold bitch if what everyone's always telling me is true, and I'm a completely emotional wreck."

Blaine snapped back, "Because I'm used to having to control my emotions, okay?! Sadness was seen as a form of weakness in my family, and I don't appreciate other people telling me how to act in this type of situation! I did care about Finn. I was looking forward to him being the best man at Kurt's and my wedding, and I would have loved to have him as a brother-in-law!"

Sam rested a hand on Blaine's shoulder and glared at Kitty. "Emotions are just … running really high right now. What we all need to do is just all calm down a little. Finn would not have wanted us to all be jumping down each other's throats like this!"

A few of the older members, and Marley, decided to stay around and help clean up, but most of the younger members – even Joe and Sugar – left soon after, citing various excuses, but it was obvious that they didn't feel they had the right to intrude on the old friends' grieving process, either. Once the party had been cleaned up, the graduates, Artie, Tina, Blaine, and Sam sat down in the living room to just talk about their memories of Finn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to cut it off here, because if I keep going it's going to be another 1500 words. The next chapter will, I promise, be uploaded sooner than this one. I didn't particularly like how the beginning of this turned out, but after going through about 15 possible openings, this one is the one I chose (obviously). I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Oh, and by the way, DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Also, I do not feel like the grief of newer fans of the show is any less than that of those who've been watching from the beginning; I just wasn't really sure how to incorporate the younger characters, Joe, or Sugar into this next part which will be uploaded at some point, probably this weekend.


	3. I'll Cover You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous chapter: Quinn finds out, and Rachel tells her dads, and there is much angsty fluff to be had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took me a lot longer than I thought it would; NaNoWriMo is pretty much kicking my butt right now… Anyway, hope you enjoy this next chapter of “Lean on Me”, which is a continuation of the previous chapter. Also, as always, I do not own anything used in this story. (Also, some of the ideas for this dialog are actually taken from “The Quarterback” – fair warning.)

Surprisingly, Santana was the first to speak.  “Even though I was pretty much a bitch to him, he definitely cared about me.  I … I was his first; I took his virginity our sophomore year, during Madonna week.  He kept asking me if I was alright,” she sniffled here, “and I even made him get me food afterward.  Even though he was freakishly tall, he was a good person.  I'm pretty upset to think that I’ll never see his dopey smile again.”

Sam put an arm around Santana and handed her a tissue.  “I’ll admit I didn’t know Finn as well as some of you; I've only known him for a few years, while I'm sure most of you have at least seen him around town before that.  But he was a great quarterback, and I loved working with him on the football team and Glee.”  He looked away from the others, blinking slowly.

Mercedes took a shaky breath.  “As bad as it is for us, imagine how hard it must be for Kurt…”  She turned to Blaine.  “And it must be difficult for you, too, Blaine.  I know that you and Finn were pretty good friends, once Finn stopped thinking you were trying to take over the club.”  She looked from one person to the next.  “Has … has anyone told Mr. Shue yet?  I think he should be here with us.”

Everyone looked at each other; finally Tina spoke up.  “I’ll call him, but I don’t know how long it’ll take him to get here.”  She dialed Mr. Shuester’s number and waited for him to pick up as she walked away from the group so she could hear better and not disturb the others.

Artie pulled out his phone as well.  “I’m going to tell Brittany.  Who wants to tell Quinn?”

Mercedes looked around for a second before sighing; Santana, the only one present likely to have a current number for Quinn, was still crying hysterically into her tissue and would be of no help whatsoever.  “I guess I’ll do it, if no one else wants to.  I hope she hasn’t changed her number; I only have her number from sophomore year, and she might have changed it since then.”

While the others were distracted with either consoling each other or telling the other members what had happened, Blaine took the opportunity to head upstairs and stay with Kurt for a bit.  Neither Burt nor Carole was in the room, but Kurt did have a cold washcloth on his forehead and seemed to be breathing more easily than he had been before.  He was also still fast asleep, but he must have heard the footsteps coming up the stairs because when Blaine entered the room, his eyes fluttered open.

Kurt looked sleepily up at his fiancé.  “I … I've had the worst nightmare ever.  You proposed to me and Finn wasn’t here and Puck told us that he had died.”  At Blaine’s expression, Kurt paused.  “It’s not true, is it, Blaine?  Please, just send Finn up here so I can see for myself that he’s alright.” 

Kurt looked so upset, so hopeful, that it physically hurt Blaine to tell him the truth.  “Kurt … Kurt, honey, that wasn’t a nightmare.”  Seeing that Kurt was about to start crying again, Blaine sat down on the edge of the bed and helped to pull Kurt into his arms, rubbing his back and making comforting shushing sounds.  “Shush, it’s alright, baby.  You have to calm down or you’re going to be sick again, sweetheart.  You're really sick, and this is just making it worse.”  He pressed a kiss to the top of Kurt’s head and held him there, closing his eyes to keep his own tears from falling.

~~(   )~~

Quinn picked up her textbooks and put them into her backpack, slinging it onto her shoulder and walking out of the classroom with her friend Kylie.  “Good luck on your chemistry exam,” she called over her shoulder to the other girl as she headed back to her dorm; the economics class was her last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and after the week she had had so far she just wanted to go back to her room and rest before heading to the dining hall for dinner.

She had just gotten to her door when she heard the ringtone of her phone – she always left her cell in her room rather than risk having it to go off during class.  She fumbled with her keys briefly before finding the right one and unlocking her door.  By the time she found her phone (it had fallen under the bed at some point during the day), the call had gone to voicemail.  She pressed the voicemail button and saw that she had five voicemails from that day alone; someone must have been trying to reach her for quite a while now.  Biting her lip, she listened to voicemail after voicemail of Mercedes begging her to please call her back as soon as possible.

After finally listening to all of the voicemails, Quinn found Mercedes’ number in her contacts and called it.

~~(   )~~

Tears still streaming down her face, Rachel finally made it safely to her driveway at home.  Looking up, she saw that both her fathers’ cars were there.  She felt physically sick at the thought; she and Finn were supposed to be getting married and live happily ever after with their 2.5 children, and she thought the universe was being terribly unfair about the whole thing.

After calming herself down a little, she got out of her car and walked slowly into the house.  Leroy Berry looked up from the stack of bills he was rifling through and smiled at his daughter.  “Hi, honey.  How was your day?”  He stood up and kissed the side of Rachel’s head, smiling down at her again.

Rachel tried to smile a little, but failed miserably.  “It’s horrible, Daddy, just horrible.”

Hiram apparently decided the exact wrong time to enter the room, running over to Rachel and looking into her face.  “What’s wrong, Rachela?  Are you hurt?  What’s wrong?  Is it Finn?  Did he do something?”

Rachel shook her head, sniffling quietly.  “No, Papa, h-he didn’t do anything.”  Her face crumbled and she burst into fresh tears again.  Although it was a little hard to hear, the two fathers could distinctly hear the words, “He’s dead,” coming from their daughter’s mouth, and their hearts sank.

Hiram and Leroy hugged Rachel quietly, trying to reassure her, for a few minutes before breaking apart slowly.  Hiram made hot chocolate, and Leroy sent Rachel up to her bed to change into more comfortable clothes.  A few minutes later, Leroy came up to her room with the hot chocolate, giving it to her with a hug and a promise that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.  Rachel thanked her father, sipped the hot chocolate for a few minutes, and curled into a ball, afraid to go to sleep.

~~(   )~~

At a little before midnight, Carole looked up at the clock.  After the New Directions and graduates had left, Carole had come back downstairs and had been sitting in the same position for several hours.  She stood a little stiffly and went up to check on Kurt.

Opening the creaky door as quietly as she could, the site she saw made her heavy heart lift just the slightest bit.  Kurt had once again fallen asleep, his head on Blaine’s shoulder, and Blaine was also now lying down, fast asleep.  Smiling faintly, Carole pulled a blanket over both of them and pressed a kiss to her stepson’s forehead.  She then left and got into bed beside her husband.  She didn’t think either of them slept a wink the entire night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here you have another emotionally charged chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the choppiness; I was experimenting with various points-of-view, and I'm not 100% sure that I succeeded. If I didn’t, I again sincerely apologize.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of Blaine's backstory is explained as he returns home from school the day after proposing to Kurt.
> 
> WARNING: mentions of domestic abuse, nothing truly explicit, some language

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must have been super-motivated this week… Anyway, here’s the next chapter, with a slight time skip. Also, please note that Francey Anderson is not my character. She belongs to the wonderful Keitorin Asthore right here on this site (please go check out her works; they’re great). Also, I don’t know what constitutes as a trigger warning, so I'm just going to put a general warning: domestic abuse in this chapter… I'm also using Keitorin’s theory that Cooper is actually Blaine’s stepbrother, but I made them matrilineally related. I'm also going to use the names Lila and Daniel for the parents’ names so I don’t have to keep saying either “Mr. Anderson” and “Mrs. Anderson” or “Blaine’s mom” and “Blaine’s dad”. Anywho, hope you enjoy.

This school day was one of the hardest Blaine had ever experienced.  Even transferring to Dalton in the middle of his freshman year, and then having to repeat that entire year over again, hadn’t been as bad as this.  Principal Sue had told the entire student body, and a bunch of people had been coming up to random members of the Glee Club to offer their condolences or ask questions about how it had happened.

After leaving AP English, Blaine went to his locker one last time to pick up the textbooks he’d need for homework that weekend, if he even had time to do it.  That morning he had woken up snuggled next to Kurt, who had felt a little cooler than the night before; he had come down for breakfast and left Kurt where he was.  Breakfast had been a silent affair, and then Blaine had headed back upstairs to borrow something from Kurt’s wardrobe to wear to school that day.  Kurt had woken up in time to say goodbye to Blaine, and then he had come to school.

Soon after everyone had arrived at school, Sue had made the announcement that all extracurricular activities, including glee club, had been canceled for the day out of respect, but most of the Glee Club members were staying behind anyway.  Blaine just didn’t think he could handle it, so he was just going to go straight home, regardless of the shitstorm that was destined to take place given that he hadn’t checked in with his parents in over twenty-four hours.

Blaine sighed, grabbed his backpack without even bothering to put any books in it, and headed to his car.  He made the 45-minute drive back home easily enough, but he was surprised to see not only his parents’ cars, but two more in the driveway as well.  He killed the engine and took the keys out of the ignition before heading into the house, where he was immediately attacked by a huge hug.

Looking into his sister’s bright, teary hazel eyes, he said, “Hi, Francey.  Um, what are you doing here?  Shouldn’t you still be at school?”

Cooper walked into the room behind his younger half-sister at a slower pace.  “The better question is, where have you been?”

“Coop?  I thought you were shooting that big commercial.”  Blaine was even more confused.  Sure, he hadn’t checked in with his parents, but surely it wasn’t such a big concern that they had called in his older sister and their half-brother home from California…

Lila followed Cooper into the room.  “We were worried sick about you, Blainey.”  She hugged her youngest son close.  “When you didn’t come home last night, I called all your friends that I could think of from Dalton.  I even tried calling Kurt, but he never answered…  Finally I tried your friend Sam, and he told me what had happened to your friend.  Wasn’t he Kurt’s stepbrother?”

Blaine nodded, sniffling slightly.  “Yeah, Kurt’s dad married Finn’s mom right before Kurt transferred to Dalton…”

Francey, always pretty good at reading her baby brother’s emotional state, put an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.  “I'm sorry, Babbie.  Poor Kurt…  And wasn’t Finn dating that annoyingly perky brunette that’s always getting solos at competitions?”

Blaine frowned.  “Her name is Rachel…  But yes, they are … _were_ together, I think, at the time of his death.  She seemed pretty broken up about it.”  He looked earnestly at his mother.  “Mama, can I please just go up to my room for a bit?”

Lila was clearly about to say yes when there was a slam of another car door.  She looked frightened for a moment before ushering all three of her children upstairs.  Each of the Anderson children knew this routine; Daniel Anderson had probably gotten drunk again and would be taking it out on whoever happened to be in sight.  The last time he had gotten this drunk had actually been right after Blaine’s eye surgery, when Blaine had still been in the hospital.  That time, Lila had come to visit Blaine the next day, alone, with bruises up and down her arms.  That had been far from the first time Daniel had done something like this, but it had been definitely the worst.  They just hoped that this time wouldn’t be any worse.

Blaine kept quiet in his room; if he pretended he didn’t exist, then maybe his father wouldn’t come looking for him.  Daniel Anderson also hadn’t approved of his son being gay; Blaine had come out to both his parents his first freshman year, and things had not been pretty.  Daniel had come home drunk every night for almost two weeks straight, destroying everything in sight and occasionally hitting either Blaine or whoever was “foolish” enough to try to protect him.  He never hit hard enough to leave more than bruises, but it still hurt for a few days afterwards.  That was one of the reasons Blaine had joined “fight club” upon entering Dalton, so he could learn to protect himself and his mother from his father. 

Blaine knew rationally that it wasn’t entirely his fault, but he couldn’t help but notice that his father had never done anything like this until after he, Blaine, had come out.  He supposed that, since Cooper was bigger and stronger, he could have helped, too, but Cooper was more concerned about keeping his face looking pretty for the cameras than what was going on at home; Cooper was rarely home for more than a few days a year, and so rarely had to put up with this sort of thing.

Blaine lay back on the bed, waiting for the sounds of his father’s footsteps coming up the stairs.  Daniel must have found out about the proposal, and gotten pissed drunk.  Blaine knew what was coming.  He just had to be ready for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s the end of that chapter. I know, super emotionally charged, as well as lots and lots of backstory. I promise this will be further explored at a later point. Hope you enjoyed! Also, I know, nasty author, leaving on a cliffhanger like that. Promise to update soon (but probably not as soon as this update.)


	5. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine goes to Sam's house after being beaten by his dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super-long wait; I have finals starting in two days, and my laptop is on the fritz again. This story will be updated now, but updates will be more frequent starting after this Friday, by which time my new laptop should be in and I will be on my 5-week-long winter break.

Blaine winced; his father had gotten him a bit harder than usual in the ribs. He put a hand to them and rubbed them lightly; they hurt, but he had had worse. At least he didn’t think he had to go to the hospital. He thought about where he could go; he knew going to Kurt was out of the question, given the events of the day, and so was Rachel. He didn’t really know much about where the other club members lived, but then he remembered: Sam. Sam’s family had moved back to Lima after Mr. Evans had been transferred to the main office the next town over. Sam’s younger brother, Stevie, would actually be starting at McKinley in two years, and Stacey would be joining him the year after. Blaine had slept over there a few times, and so he knew that he would be safe there.

Blaine looked at the clock on his nightstand; his father had managed not to knock it over during his drunken rampage, which was rather unusual, but Blaine was thankful for small blessings. The clock showed that it was a little after midnight, and Blaine knew that the drive to Sam’s house was a little under an hour. He bit his lip, unsure of what to do. Could he really impose on them at such a late hour?

Then Blaine remembered a conversation that he had had with Sam soon after Sam had noticed the bruises on Blaine’s body while they had been changing for sectionals. Sam had said then that, no matter what time it was, Blaine was always welcome to spend some time at the Evans’ house, to get away from the “drunken bastard” (as Sam had called Blaine’s father) as much as possible.

Making a decision, Blaine grabbed his car keys quietly, pulled on his shoes and a light jacket, and tiptoed down the stairs. He knew his father would be dead to the world for the next few hours, and that his mother was probably sleeping in Francey’s room. He assumed Cooper was asleep, too, but he wasn’t entirely sure where; when the boys had been younger, they had shared a room, but the past few times Cooper had come to visit he had stayed in the guest room. Before he could open up the front door, Blaine felt a hand on his shoulder.

Blaine stiffened and turned around slowly, afraid that he had been wrong and his father had come back to finish what he had started. He was relieved to notice that it was just Cooper, looking at him in concern. “I'm really sorry, B. I … I knew what he was doing to you, and to Mom, but I never did anything. Do you … do you have somewhere to go?”

Blaine nodded silently. He was not expecting to have this conversation, at least not now. “Yeah, I'm going to Sam’s house. He said … he said I'm welcome at any time.”

Cooper pulled Blaine into a hug. “I promise, things’ll be different. I mean … I can’t be here all the time, and neither can Francey, but we’ll try not to let him hurt you.”

Blaine blinked away tears. “That’s just it; you can’t. He’ll do shit like this to me, or to Mom, every time he gets drunk. There’s … there’s nothing you can do. I … I have to go now. And I don’t think I'm coming back.” He pulled away from Cooper and, not hearing or listening to his brother’s pleas, he opened the door and walked out.

Blaine made the drive in silence, thinking over how he was going to explain what had happened. He knew the evidence was written plain on his face, and hoped that Sam would understand. He didn’t know where he would go, but he knew that, regardless of what the Evans said, he could not stay there forever. Maybe he could move in with the Hudson-Hummels for a few months, at least until it was time to go off to college…

Finally, Blaine reached Sam’s house and pulled into the driveway. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted, “Need help. In ur driveway. Can I stay the night?”

An upstairs light flicked on, and then a reply came through. “Yeah. B downstairs in a minute.”

Blaine stayed where he was, in the warm safety of his car. He knew he was safe here; his father would not expend that much effort just to get at him again – especially not now, when he probably wasn’t even conscious.

Suddenly the front door opened, and there was Sam. Blaine opened his car door and gingerly stood, as Sam came jogging over to help him. Sam looked at Blaine for a moment. “Shit. He really got you this time, didn’t he?”

Blaine nodded, wincing, and hoping that Sam had missed that particular expression. Of course, luck just wasn’t on his side today, and Sam had, causing him to look even more concerned. “Are you okay? What’d he do this time?”

Blaine gasped out, “He … he got me … in the ribs, and they really hurt.”

Sam nodded slowly. “I might have to get my parents in on this one, B. He really hurt you, and you might have to go to the hospital.” Sam licked his lips nervously. “Um, but if you do wind up in the hospital, you’ll have to explain how this all happened. Your mom and your siblings should be safe for at least a few more hours – I'm guessing he was really drunk when he did this?” Blaine nodded. “So … yeah, the police’ll probably arrest your dad, and after that you might be able to go back?”

By this point, Sam had led Blaine over to the couch and told him to lie down. Then Sam ran back upstairs to get his parents, to try to get help for his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So … yeah, super-short chapter, but I know what I'm doing. The next chapter will be called “Concrete Angel” (and no, Blaine won’t die, don’t worry), and the one after that will be called “Funeral Dress”. I hope you all enjoy this chapter (despite being rather short), and I’ll try to post a new chapter this weekend. That is, if my current laptop is still working (if my new one isn’t in yet) and my kitten doesn’t decide to take a three-hour-long nap on my lap, thus preventing me from doing anything but petting her.


	6. Concrete Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is my new chapter of "Lean on Me/If I Die Young". I know it is not what I promised, but some of the ideas that were originally going to be in this chapter are still incorporated, just in a different way than I had originally planned. And sorry for going so long without an update; my computer decided to crash, and I got my new one right before Christmas, and then there were family issues… I'm back now, though!

He blinked. Once. Twice. The fuzzy whiteness wasn't going away; if anything, it was getting brighter. Suddenly, he felt himself leave his body. He watched as Puck came into his room, tried to wake him up, failed. He watched as police sirens and an ambulance sped up to right outside the dorm, heard the other kids scramble to remove the evidence of the party that had taken place there the night before. He watched as the paramedics checked his body for a pulse, for any sign of life; saw them shake their heads in shame at the life lost so young, in its prime.

Finn did not understand what was happening. One minute, he was sure he was coming off of that high; the next, he had been choking on his own vomit and was passing out, never to wake up again. He hadn't always been a druggie; he'd never even tried pot when some of their football rivals offered it to him at parties on the weekend. But after his break-up with Rachel, almost failing at teaching glee club and only succeeding due to the Warblers' steroid scandal, starting college and almost failing several classes – it had all gotten to be too much. A few weeks before, he had been hanging out at a bar; one of the advantages of being so tall was that no one thought to check his ID. A pretty girl – around the same height as Santana, with reddish blonde hair and big blue eyes – had come up to him and offered him an experience he would never forget. After that, there was no looking back – he could barely even remember what had happened in the intervening time period.

Within half an hour, Finn's body had been removed from the room, and Puck was in the room, unknowingly alone with Finn's spirit. Finn tried to reach out to his old friend, but the comforting hand he tried to place on his friend's shoulder wound up going right through it; Puck shivered involuntarily at the touch and walked out of the room quickly.

Finn bit his lip, not sure what to do next. Outside his room, he heard Puck on the phone with someone; he couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Finn padded silently to his door and heard Puck's parting words: "I'm so sorry, Rachel. I'll tell you if I learn anything new."

Guilt dropped in Finn's stomach like a stone; how could he have forgotten Rachel? The two had been engaged to be married once; he had taken her virginity their senior year; even though they had broken up, he had always thought they'd eventually get back together, that the Powers That Be would never allow them to be apart from each other for long.

Knowing instinctively what he had to do, Finn concentrated on Rachel's face and felt himself fade out of the dorm hallway in his dinky public college, and into the house that he had lived with his mom and Kurt and Kurt's dad ever since his junior year of high school. Rachel was running down the stairs in tears; apparently she couldn't stand to even be in Finn's old house. Finn walked quietly into his stepbrother's room just as Blaine was walking out, passing straight through him without a second glance; Kurt was sleeping silently in his bed, with Finn's mother stroking his hair; Burt, who had been like a father to Finn for the past few years, was staring off into space, clearly in shock.

Finn swallowed reflexively; the scene was painful to watch. He headed downstairs to see the rest of the New Directions, both new and old, gathered in the living room; he remembered now, Blaine had texted him a few days ago to ask him for help with proposing to Kurt, but he had been too high at the time to respond. He listened to the older members' stories about him, even managing to crack a smile at Sam's few words about him. He wished he could comfort them, but he knew that he could not physically touch any of them. He just watched helplessly as several of them pulled out their phones to tell other team members about the news – Rory, back home in Ireland; Matt Rutherford, who had transferred out after sophomore year; Quinn, at Yale; and Brittany, who had left right after Sectionals for MIT.

Eventually, all of the former team members left, leaving Finn alone with his family once more. Finn eventually went back upstairs to check on his brother; Kurt and Blaine were cuddling on the bed, both sleeping soundly with a blanket around them.

Suddenly, Finn felt a pulling on his hand, and he turned to see a pretty young woman with auburn hair and big, light blue eyes, similar to Kurt's. She smiled gently at the surprised young man and said, "I am here to guide you to Purgatory."

Finn was still stunned. "Wh-who are you?"

The woman smiled again. "You know who I am, but you have never met me." She turned her smile on the two boys in the bed, blowing a kiss to them. "I miss them, too, but you cannot stay here forever. You have to move on."

His brain rather sluggish, Finn finally caught in. "You … you're Kurt's mother, aren't you?"

The woman – who Finn now remembered was named Mollie – looked at Finn approvingly. "Yes, I am. After I died, I spent two weeks here, but I realized that it wasn't healthy for my son and my husband to keep dwelling on me for very long. I appeared to each of them separately, and I told them that I was alright. When Burt met Carole, I told him that I was happy for them both, and that I wasn't upset with him for finding a new mother for Kurt. I knew that he needed a mother's love, and that you and Carole would be the best thing for him."

Finn blinked a few times in confusion. "Wait… If you've … appeared … to Kurt, how can he not believe in God and stuff? I mean, you're an angel, aren't you?"

Mollie thought for a moment before speaking. "I believe that, even though Kurt knows that I am safe and happy, he does not necessarily believe that I am in heaven. He thinks that I'm in some sort of positive afterlife; he probably believes that it's like in 'My Sister's Keeper,' with your own personal 'heaven' that has little to do with religion."

Finn nodded as if he understood, but never having read the book in question, he really didn't. "I … I guess that makes sense. So is it really like that? Our own personal 'heaven'?"

"It is, in a way. We are allowed to look upon those we left behind, and watch over them in times of stress. That is what called you here, to your family and to Rachel. You sensed that they needed you, that they were upset. It's one of our … 'superpowers', I suppose you could say. Now, with Kurt ill, I must stay here, but I can show you the way to get back to our world, if you would like."

Finn nodded slowly, taking one last look at his former home. Mollie smiled sadly at her son's stepbrother. "I know it is hard to leave, but you'll see them again." She took the young man's hand and led him outside. Holding out her free hand, she somehow summoned a large wooden door with a white, heavenly glow around it. Sensing Finn start in surprise, she said, "That is another 'power' that you will learn to use as time goes on." Letting go of Finn's hand, she stepped back and motioned toward the door. "Well, go on. Someone on the other side will teach you how to get back here." She kissed Finn on the forehead and started to head back to the house, to watch over her sleeping son and his adorable boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack. Okay, so I didn't get to the part that I wanted to, but I will in the next chapter, I promise. So basically this is just a 'filler' chapter before I get to the chapter that was going to be called "Concrete Angel" but will now probably be called "Just Like a Pill" or something similar. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to update a lot more quickly this time.


	7. Just Like a Pill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack. I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry. Real life got in the way and I had like 4 exams in the space of 3 days and I know it's no excuse, but then I kind of forgot. I just remembered about an hour ago, and that is how this happened. On the upside, I remembered what I was gonna write, so … yay?

Sam took the stairs up two at a time, as quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake up Stevie or Stacey. When he reached his parents' door, he knocked softly and waited until he heard a quiet "come in" before entering.

Sam's mother, Mary, was sitting up in bed, reading one of those romance novels she liked so much, when he walked in. He whispered the situation quietly into her ear, and she nodded and woke up her husband, Dwight. The two of them got out of bed and pulled on bathrobes and slippers. Mary grabbed her cellphone from the nightstand and started to call 911 as she brushed past her son and started down the stairs.

Blaine was still unconscious on the couch, so Mary put her arm around the boy. She thought he might be running a slight fever, but it was hard to tell. As she explained the situation to the phone operator, she rubbed her thumb along the boy's cheek, wondering how horrible a person would have to be to do this to his own child. After giving as many details as she could, she hung up and looked worriedly at her husband and her oldest child. "We can't let him go back there again, Sam. It looks like that man did his damned best to kill him; who knows how long it'll be before he succeeds?" She bit her lip, unable to speak any more.

Sam nodded. "Can … can he stay here with us until graduation? I know money's tight right now, but we can get jobs after school if we need to; I know a great coffee place – "

Dwight put an arm around Sam's shoulders. "He can stay with us if he wants to, but let's just get him to the hospital to get checked out before we worry about finances." Just then, an ambulance pulled into the driveway, its siren blaring and its bright lights flashing. Dwight went to the door to allow the EMTs inside and helped put Blaine on the stretcher. The female EMT looked from one Evans to another. "Are any of you family?"

Mary shook her head. "No, he's a friend of our son Sam. They're both eighteen years old, though, so maybe Sam can ride in the ambulance with him and my husband and I can follow in the car?" She looked at her son worriedly. "Is that alright with you, sweetheart? It might calm him down a bit to wake up to a familiar face…"

Sam nodded. "It's okay with me, Mom, but shouldn't one of you guys stay home with Stevie and Stacey, in case something happens?"

Mary pulled her phone out again. "I'll call one of the sitters and see if one of them can come and watch them for a bit, and then we'll head out to the hospital once the sitter gets here." Putting the phone up to her ear, she motioned for her son to follow Blaine and the EMTs out to the ambulance.

Sam was actually pretty numb for most of the ambulance ride, and he really didn't understand most of what was said. Blaine woke up once or twice during the ride, but only for a few seconds at most; he didn't really seem to understand what was going on. Once they arrived at the emergency room, Sam was told to wait in the waiting room for his parents; Blaine was going to be taken to get his ribs wrapped and to check on his breathing because one of his ribs could have punctured a lung.

About twenty minutes of waiting later, Mr. and Mrs. Evans ran into the waiting room, their two younger kids in tow. Confused, Sam looked up to his parents for an explanation; he had assumed that they would have gotten Quinn's older sister Franny or one of the neighbors' teenagers to watch Stevie and Stacey.

Mary sat next to her older son, Dwight on his other side. Stacey and Stevie sat on either side of their parents as well, both looking extremely exhausted from being woken up in the middle of the night. Mary only said, "We couldn't find a sitter quickly enough, so we just brought them here."

It was shortly after midnight on Saturday morning when a doctor finally came out to explain the situation to the Evanses. The first thing the doctor asked was, "Are any of you related to the patient?" When they all (except for Stacey, who had fallen asleep about twenty minutes before) shook their heads, he said, "We're afraid that this boy has been heavily abused. Do any of you know anything about this?" He motioned behind him for a police officer who had been waiting in the hallway. "If any of you do, I encourage you to step forward now and talk to Officer Jones."

Officer Jones was a slightly heavyset, middle-aged African-American woman; her resemblance to Mercedes was uncanny. Sam stood up and followed the officer back out into the hallway. He looked down at his shoes until Officer Jones looked at him more closely and asked, "Aren't you friends with my daughter, Mercedes? I've been to all her glee club competitions, and I think I remember you being in a few of them."

Sam nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I know her; she's a great singer. How's she doing in Los Angeles?"

Officer Jones smiled. "She's doing pretty well. Her record deal fell through, but she's taking some classes at UCLA until she figures out what to do next. As long as she's happy and doing well, I'm sure she'll do alright wherever she is. Now, what can you tell me about what happened to Blaine. Isn't he in glee club as well?"

Sam nodded again. "Yeah, he's one of our better singers right now, always getting solos and stuff. When Blaine's dad gets drunk, he tends to take out his anger and frustrations from work on him; I don't know why for sure, but I think it's because he's pretty homophobic…"

Officer Jones pulled out a notepad and started writing down notes. "And do you know how long this has been going on?"

Sam shook his head. "Not really. The first time I noticed it was last year, when we went to a pool party together and I saw him shirtless. My guess is that it started soon after he came out, though."

Officer Jones noted that down, as well. "And when did he come out?"

Sam thought for a moment. "I think he came out during his first freshman year. He asked another guy to homecoming and gotten beaten up for it. He was out of school for a few months, and by the time he came back to school – oh, he transferred after that to Dalton Academy – he was so far behind that he had to repeat the year…"

Officer Jones nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Sam. I'll be back if I have any more questions, but for now I need to call this in so we can decide what legal actions we should take."

Sam shook Officer Jones' hand and then went back to sit with his parents. It felt like hours before another doctor finally came out and told them they could visit Blaine. Dwight stayed with the kids, who had by now both fallen asleep, while Mary and Sam went upstairs to Blaine's hospital room.

Blaine stared blearily up at his visitors as they entered the room; his head was kind of fuzzy from the pain medication they had given him for his ribs. He smiled up at Sam. "Thanks … for helping me, Sam. And you, too, Mrs. Evans."

Mary brushed Blaine's ungelled hair back with her fingers. "Anytime, sweetheart."

Sam cleared his throat. "We think it's best if you live with us until graduation. I can't keep letting you back there and getting hurt."

Blaine nodded sleepily. "'Kay, Sam." He could barely keep his eyes open.

Mary leaned forward and kissed Blaine on the forehead; she couldn't stand seeing any child, whether hers or someone else's, in so much pain. "Get some sleep, honey; we'll be back in a few hours to visit and see when you can come home with us, okay?"

Blaine gave a half-nod before fully falling asleep. Mary and Sam walked back down to the waiting room. Dwight and Sam picked up the kids and walked back to the car; Sam fell asleep on the way back home, and Mary and Dwight attempted to distract themselves from how tired they all were and were very, very happy when they finally reached home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah. Horrible, horrible, rambly chapter. I am so, so, so sorry. Again. I'll try to make the next chapter better… I think we've finally arrived on the funeral chapter, but I can't be sure… Oh, and any OOC-ness on Blaine's part is because of pain and medication, whereas Sam's is mostly out of worry for his best friend… I will try to update before next weekend, but if I do it'll either be on Tuesday or on Thursday.


End file.
